Keeping The Boat Afloat
by Ladii-Tears
Summary: I dont own any of the characters...Please Review
1. Chapter 1

It was a cloudless night in July when Harry Potter awoke with a start. It wasn't the grunting snores of his cousin Dudley that had roused him, but rather the same nightmare that had haunted his dreams for a fortnight. Harry was used to these dreams by now, but they still induced fear, worry, and frustration in him. They also made him feel even lonelier than he had felt before he knew he had a godfather. Sirius Black had escaped from Azkaban, proved his innocence to Harry, and showed him the real betrayer of his parent's trust. He then became something of a father figure to Harry for two short years before his own cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, murdered him. Now Harry had no family left except his mother's sister, Petunia, her husband, Vernon, and their son, Dudley.

A rustling of wings interrupted Harry's reminiscing as his snowy owl, Hedwig, flew into the room through the open window. She landed gracefully onto the bed, and Harry, careful not to make any unnecessary noise, untied the parchment from her leg. He unrolled the note and read:

Harry,

I'm glad to hear that you are doing fine, and that your aunt and uncle are treating you better. There are only a few more things to arrange here before we can come and collect you to say here in London.

I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but I miss him just as much as you do. But we have to try to move past it. I know it's hard, but he wouldn't want us to dwell on it.

Here's hoping we'll see you soon,  
- R. J. Lupin.

Move past it. Harry didn't think he ever could move past it, or if he could, how? It did mean more coming from Lupin than it would have coming from Ron or Hermione. Lupin, at least, knew Sirius and was close to him; like Harry.

Ron's owl, Pig, zooming through the open window like a cannon ball, interrupted his thoughts again. Unfortunately, Pig was not as quiet as Hedwig, and, in no time, his Uncle Vernon was banging on the door.

"Shut that bloody owl up!" thundered his uncle.

"Or what?" retorted Harry through the locked door. "You'll lock me in? Refuse to feed me? Lock up my owl?"

He knew Uncle Vernon had no choice but to give in. Mad Eye Moody's threat at the end of June seemed to make Uncle Vernon a little more reserved than usual around Harry. They all knew that if Harry were mistreated in any way, shape, or form, that various wizards would do something about it. So Uncle Vernon had no choice but to trudge back to bed.

Satisfied, Harry reached up and caught Pig, who was flying around the lampshade on the ceiling, hooting incessantly. He untied the scroll of parchment from the tiny owl's leg, unrolled the second note of the night and read:

Hey Harry,

I overheard mum and dad talking to Lupin last night, and they were planning a surprise birthday party for you, which either means you're coming here or we're going there. Mad Eye, for some reason, doesn't want you to leave the Dursley's yet. Doesn't he need a good kick up the arse.

Anyways, hope the muggles are treating you right,

- Ron

Ps: Have you heard from Hermione at all? She hasn't written yet to see if she can stay. Take care.

Harry had not heard from Hermione either, which was quite strange. Usually she would have pelted him with letters or already been invited to the Burrow. Had something perhaps happened to her?

And Moody didn't want him to come and stay. That seemed a little strange, and it annoyed Harry. It was Moody, after all, who threatened Uncle Vernon and told Harry to keep in touch with regular owls.

And they were planning a surprise birthday party for him; for his sixteenth birthday. It would be the first birthday party he could remember. This cheered Harry up a great deal, and as Pig was already asleep with Hedwig, he figured he would turn in for the second time that night.

Tomorrow he thought he would try to find out where Hermione was, or at least find a way to get out of Privet Drive. With the thought of his birthday party planning under way, he fell into a much more peaceful sleep than before.

---

Harry arrived in the kitchen next morning to his usual greeting. Silence. This did not bother Harry; it was expected of the Dursleys to ignore his presence. He sat down opposite Dudley and helped himself to toast.

The letterbox opened and they heard several letters fall to the floor in a flutter.

"Dudley," Uncle Vernon said, after a glace at Harry, "get the mail."

With what seemed like enormous difficulty, Dudley heaved himself out of his seat and proceeded to the front door. Just then, the telephone rang and Aunt Petunia answered it.

She turned to Harry, an unreadable look in her eyes. "It's for you," she said, holding the receiver out to him. Harry took it quizzically.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi, Harry," said the voice on the other end.

"Hermione?" he asked as his heart seemed to skip a beat.

"Yeah," she said, sounding relieved, "how are you?"

"Fine," he said, "how are you? Why haven't you sent any owls?"

"Oh, well, you see," she began, "things aren't that great here at the moment."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, a feeling of unease coming over him.

Then there was silence on the other end.

"Hermione, are you there?" Harry questioned.

"Yes," she replied, "but I have to tell you Harry, I'm in trouble."

"Trouble?" he said, "what kind of trouble?"

"Well, you know how I'm a - a -"

"Muggle-born?"

"Yes," she said, "and you know how some people don't particularly like us?"

"Like Malfoy, you mean."

"Yes, Malfoy. He sent me a letter right after term ended."

"What did it say?" he asked with a sense of foreboding.

"Well, to sum it up, it said that if I didn't sever ties with you, that his dad would come after my family."

"What?" Harry gasped.

"I didn't believe it at first," she continued, "until I spoke with Viktor, and he said his dad said that Mr. Malfoy said that it was true."

"Wow."

"Yeah, and so now I don't really want to talk to Ron because Malfoy mentioned him, too."

"What did he say?"

"He said that if I was in touch with any of the Weasleys he would know, and they would go down, too."

"Oh my -"

"But he did mention you and said if it wasn't for the fact that you had no family, he would get them if I was in touch with you." She said all of this in a rush as though she had needed to say it for a while now.

"Okay," Harry said, "I'll talk to Ron and we'll all figure out a way to get you and your family to safety. Maybe you can come to London."

"Oh, that'd be great, Harry."

"I'll talk to Lupin, too."

"Okay," she said.

"Take care of yourself now, Hermione."

"I will. Thanks, Harry. Good bye."

"Bye," he said. He hung up.

There was only one thing to do, and he needed to do it fast. As he left the kitchen, his uncle spoke.

"Don't you want to see your letter?"

"A letter?"

"Yes," his uncle said, "a letter for you from a N. Tonks."

"Let me have it then," Harry said.

As his uncle passed him the envelope, Dudley asked, "So, what did your girlfriend want?"

"Firstly, she's not my girlfriend, and secondly, it's none of your business," replied Harry coolly, as he left the room.

Once he was on the stairs, he opened and unfolded the letter from Tonks and read:

Harry,

I know Lupin is probably going to write to you to say that you can't stay yet, and I am writing to tell you that you will probably be here in under a week of you getting this letter.

Now, I know you probably want to know what we are all up to, and all I'm allowed to say is we are working hard. You, however, are to stay out of trouble, and Molly says to be nice to your aunt and uncle. I, on the other hand, say you should wreak havoc on them while you can. I highly doubt they will try to punish you, seeing as how Mad Eye threatened them.

On another note, I would dismantle your electric fireplace if I were you. If we do come and get you, it will probably be by floo powder. And just as a final note and warning, Fred and George miss you, if you get where I'm going with this. So don't be surprised if they happen to pop into your house at one time or another.

From London,

- Tonks.

Finally, most of Harry's questions had answers. He had been wondering for a while now what the Order was doing to keep the newly returned Voldemort at bay. Tonks' letter cheered Harry up a great deal. He now had reason to give the Dursleys a hard time. The looming worry of that letter was when the twins would visit.

But right now he needed to write to Ron and tell him about Hermione. He did not want to send all of that information by owl. For all he knew, Death Eaters could be intercepting mail. Pulling a scrap of parchment towards him, he dipped his quill in the ink and wrote:

Ron

Thanks for the letter. I have news that shouldn't be sent by owl. Send the twins.

- Harry.

He then prodded Pig awake and sent the note with the tiny owl back to London. With luck, there would be news soon. 


	2. Chapter 2

Unsure of what to do while he waited for the twins, Harry began to clean. If he was to be leaving any day now, he might as well be ready when they came for him.

After only five minutes of cleaning, however, he became rather bored. Deciding to go for a walk, he slipped out the front door, and proceeded to the park. No need to tell the Dursleys: they were just glad he was not there.

Halfway to the park, something made him stop. He had had this feeling before on his long walks last summer: of someone watching him. Last summer it was Mundungus Fletcher who followed him, and Harry wondered if it was Dung again.

As he walked down a back alley, he crossed through an unavoidable puddle. He went a ways out of the water trap before he stopped, turned round, and saw two pairs of footprints leading out of the puddle.

"Wotcher," Harry said out loud, "you've been found out. Now let me see who you are."

"Nobody said you'd find me out," said a familiar voice out of the darkness. "Do you see any muggles looking?"

"No, you can uncover yourself."

And Bill Weasley appeared as he pulled off the invisibility cloak he had been wearing.

"Why were you following me?" Harry asked, as they made their way down the alley.

"Well," said Bill, "according to Mad Eye, you seem to need watching over now that You-Know-Who is obviously after you, and I fancied a walk, so I volunteered."

"I heard Fred and George were going to pop in on me sometime," Harry commented as they walked.

"Yeah, they've been saying that for a while now," laughed Bill.

"So, do you know when I'm coming to London?"

"Well, Mum can't wait for you to come, and same goes for Lupin," the oldest Weasley said slowly.

Harry knew what was coming. "But?"

"Mad Eye doesn't seem to think now is the right time for you to come," he frowned.

"Tonks said —"

"I know. We all want you there by the end of the week. But there's no way to hide from Moody and his eye."

"Yeah," Harry said, disgruntled. They walked in silence for a while before Harry asked, "so, when you're not doing stuff for the, you know, what do you do?"

"Well, I think you might remember her from the tri—"

"Fleur Delacour?" Harry interrupted. "You're —?"

"Seeing her, yes," Bill said, and Harry could see a dull red flush creep up Bill's neck.

He decided not to take the subject any farther, and in no time, they had reached Number Four's walk.

"Hopefully Mad Eye will give in," said Bill, "and we'll see you soon."

"Here's hoping," said Harry, and walked to the front door as Bill disapparated.

---

The next morning, Harry awoke to find a note on his desk.

We were here. Meet you at noon in your living room to get ready for your departure. Bill says hi.

Harry smiled. The twins. He should have known. Ready now to face the day ahead, Harry began to dress.

The morning sped by, and at five to twelve, Harry decided to explain to his uncle what would soon happen.

"I'm having some of my friends from school over for a little while," Harry announced.

"Excuse me?" his uncle said, his face turning red.

"I said I'm having —"

"I know what you said," his uncle spat, "what will they be doing here?"

"They're going to help me prepare the fireplace," said Harry simply.

"Help — fireplace — prepare —?" his uncle spluttered.

"Yes, so that I can leave this dump."

"You're packed?" his uncle asked, his indignant tone replaced by something like excitement.

"Not yet. I might have to wait 'til tomorrow to leave. I don't know how long it will take to remove the —" Harry began, but he never finished. Two loud pops issued from the living room. Abandoning his explanation, he bounded across the hall to greet the twins.

"Harry, mate," said Fred, a huge grin spread across his face, "how are you?"

"Great," Harry replied. "I heard you were planning to come."

"Of course," said George, "how could we not want to come and see you, mate?"

"Yeah," Fred said, "and besides, mum thought you might need help —"

"— Opening up your fireplace —"

"— For floo usage."

"You do want to come to London, don't you?" asked George, an expression of mock concern on his face.

"Of course, dad reckons you shouldn't come —"

"— Until tomorrow," George finished.

Harry smiled. "I still need to pack, so tomorrow —"

"Would be good?" George said. Harry nodded.

"Excellent," Fred said.

"How did you want to take this apart?" Harry asked, moving towards the fireplace.

The twins grinned.

"The easy way," said Fred.

"Stand back, Harry," said George, as they both drew out their wands.

A gasp issued from the doorway. The three boys turned round to find Aunt Petunia and Dudley standing at the door.

"Just ignore them," Harry told the twins, turning back around.

"Shall we get on with it then?" George asked his twin.

"Of course, my brother," Fred replied.

It was over in a matter of minutes. The electric fireplace lay in a heap of rubble on the living room floor, and Fred was taking out a small tin from his pocket.

"We just have to give it a test run before we go," George explained. He threw a pinch of the glittering powder into the fire. As the emerald flames rose higher and higher, another audible gasp issued from Aunt Petunia, still standing in the doorway.

"The Burrow!" George shouted, as he stepped into the flames. He disappeared with a roar of the fire, and an uttered "cool!" from Dudley issued from behind his mother's bony structure.

"I thought you guys were staying in London?" Harry asked Fred.

"Oh, we are," he replied, turning away from the fireplace, "we're just making sure we can get to and from your fireplace, via different fireplaces than ours."

"Oh, okay."

"Ron said that you knew something about Hermione," Fred inquired. "What was it?"

"Well, apparently Malfoy contacted her after school was out," Harry began, and by the time he was done telling Fred what Hermione said, George was back. Both twins wore identical looks of worry and suspicion.

"Never heard that one before," George said.

"And she's not one to make something up like that, is she?" Fred said.

"But most of its hearsay," George said.

"Would Moody believe it?" asked Harry "would any of the aurors? Because if we could —"

"Hold on there, mate," Fred interrupted. "Let's give it till tomorrow before we do anything."

"But —"

"We need to get you to London before you go on anymore rescue missions," George said.

Harry looked extremely put off. "Fine," he said.

"Hey, don't get mad at us," Fred said, holding up his hands in defeat.

"Yeah, we're just the messengers."

"Sorry," said Harry, "so who's —?"

"Who else?" Fred asked, an ugly look shadowing his freckled face.

"Moody?"

"Of course," said George wearing a slightly softer look than his identical twin. "He keeps going on and on —"

"— And on about how you need to —"

"Keep my nose clean?" Harry said, disgruntled.

"Yeah, something like that," Fred said.

"Well, it's been good, Harry," said George, "but we'd better get back to our shop."

Harry smiled. He was the one who had put the money in their pocket to help the twins live their dreams of running their own joke shop. "Okay," said Harry, "but how will I know —"

"Be packed and ready to go by lunch tomorrow," George said.

"Someone will come for you then," Fred finished.

"See you then," Harry said.

"Until tomorrow," said Fred with a wink. 


	3. Chapter 3

At five thirty next the morning, Harry woke up, courtesy of his usual nightmare. Once awake, however, he found himself too excited to go back to bed. As quietly as possible, he started to pack his trunk.

At seven o'clock, Harry could hear Uncle Vernon grumbling as he got ready for work. With his trunk packed, Harry was just about to clean Hedwig's cage when two popping noises announced the twin's arrival. Or so Harry thought.

"Good morning, Harry," came Lupin's voice from beside the door. Harry whipped around, a huge grin on his face.

"Lupin!" he exclaimed. "Tonks!" he said, spotting her standing beside Lupin. "How are you?"

"Fine, Harry, fine," said Tonks, beaming at him.

"We're just here to give you some floo powder for later on," Lupin said, pulling a small jar of glittering powder from the pocket of his robes.

"Thanks," Harry replied. "But is Mad Eye okay with this?"

"Who cares," said Tonks. "Right now he doesn't have a say in things —"

"Concerning you," interrupted Lupin, giving Tonks a warning look.

"To tell you the truth," Tonks continued, "we haven't told Mad Eye you're coming."

"And he's not going to find out we've invited you, either," said Lupin.

"How are we going to keep that from him?" Harry asked.

"You're going to come on your own," said Tonks.

"On my —"

"Own, yes," said Lupin, "We'll give you some tips on —"

A loud hammering on the door cut off Lupin.

"What the devil do you think —" his uncle began, as Lupin pulled the door open. Catching sight of the two people who stood beside Moody the year before, he stopped abruptly.

"You were saying?" asked Tonks politely.

"Er, never mind," Uncle Vernon said in a very small voice, and left the room.

"Anyways," continued Lupin, as if their conversation had never been interrupted, "we have some tips for you in regards to carrying a trunk while using floo powder."

"Firstly, make sure you have a very firm grip on your handle before you start," said Tonks, "and try not to let go."

"So keep it close to your body while you're spinning," Lupin said, "but keep it to your side —"

"So that when you come out it doesn't fall on top of you," Tonks cut in.

"Got it?" asked Lupin.

"I think so," said Harry, "but what about Hedwig?" he asked, gesturing towards the now awake owl.

"She can fly there," said Lupin, "we're waiting for Errol so that we can take her cage and not look suspicious."

"We sent him yesterday," Tonks said, "so he should be here soon."

"Did the twins tell you about —?"

"Hermione? Yes," said Lupin. "Once you get to London we'll talk about it."

"Okay," Harry said as a very tired Errol flew through the open window. He watched in silence as Tonks and Lupin put Errol in the cage and got ready to disapparate.

"Lunch is at noon," said Tonks with a wink as she disapparated with Errol.

Lupin looked at Harry. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"With getting there? Oh yeah," said Harry, knowing that's not what Lupin meant.

"You know what I mean."

Harry looked into Lupin's prematurely lined face: the effect of being a werewolf. "It's better coming from you than from anybody else," he said.

"I thought it would," Lupin said with a sad smile. "See you at lunch," he finished and disapparated, leaving Harry feeling better than he had for a while now.

He left his room and went to take a shower. It was eight o'clock before Harry got down to breakfast. Uncle Vernon was just about to leave for work.

"See you next summer," Harry said, as they ran into each other in the hall. His uncle merely grunted.

As Harry entered the kitchen, he found Dudley already awake.

"So, you're leaving?" he asked Harry.

"Yes," said Harry, "but only until next summer, so don't get your hopes up too much."

"Who are you staying with?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"Why? Because you care?" Harry said, a little more rudely than he had meant.

A silence fell in the small kitchen. Dudley eventually left the room, his breakfast of plain oatmeal and a quarter of a grapefruit finished.

"Sorry," Harry said as the door closed behind his cousin. "I didn't mean —"

"It doesn't matter," his aunt replied. "I just don't want your godfather —"

"He's dead," said Harry smally.

"Oh, sorry," said his aunt, and she looked it too. "So where will you be staying?" she asked.

"With friends of my parents," he answered.

"And how are you getting there?"

"By fire, like two years ago."

"When are you going?"

"Around eleven."

"Are you packed?"

"Yes."

"What about your owl?"

"She's going to fly there."

"Where is it?"

"In London."

"Oh."

And that was the end of their conversation until eleven o'clock. Harry was just pulling out the glass jar from Lupin as Aunt Petunia spoke from behind him.

"Have a good time then," she said.

"Yeah," said Harry, "see you next summer."

"Was he one of James' friends?"

Harry froze. "Who?"

"Your godfather."

"Yes."

"Sirius or Remus?"

"How do you know about them?" he asked, as he turned around to face his aunt.

"I just do," she said.

"Sirius was my godfather. I'm staying with Remus in Sirius' old house."

"Okay," she said, "see you."

"Bye," he said, and he threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace. As he pulled his trunk over the hearth and stood it beside him, Aunt Petunia spoke again.

"Good luck with that," she said. All he could do was nod.

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place," he said, and before the rush of emerald green flames could obscure his vision, he saw Aunt Petunia turn away, wiping her eyes.

As Harry fell out of the fire at Number Twelve, three pairs of hands, belonging to Lupin, Tonks, and Mr. Weasley, reached out to help him to his feet.

"You're just in time," said Ron the moment Harry was stood on his feet. "Lunch is almost ready."

"Harry, dear, how was it? No problems?" asked Mrs. Weasley anxiously.

"It was fine," said Harry, smiling at the small crowd assembled there. "Can I help with —"

"Oh, no," said Mrs. Weasley, beaming. "No, you just sit and relax, Harry."

As Harry sat down, Ron set a flagon of Butterbeer in the centre of the table and sat opposite Harry.

"So," Ron said, smiling, "had a good summer?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "until I got that phone call from Hermione."

"The twins told us about it," said Mr. Weasley, setting plates in front of them, "I don't know whether or not to believe Draco Malfoy would blackmail her, of all people."

"Well, how are we going to find out if it's true?" asked Ginny, smiling at Harry as she sat down beside her brother.

"We have to go get her," Harry answered with no hesitation.

"And how do you expect we're going to do that?" asked Lupin mildly, sitting down next to Harry and facing him.

"We could go to her house," said Harry.

"You know where she lives?" asked Tonks, taking her seat next to Ginny.

"No," said Harry, realizing this was a crucial bit of information he would need.

"How are we supposed to get her then?" asked Tonks.

"I don't know," answered Harry heavily, discouraged.

"Let's talk about it more tomorrow," said Mrs. Weasley, as she set the plate of sandwiches in front of them. "We'll relax this afternoon. Maybe you can get your homework done, Ron," she added.

"Yes, mother," replied Ron, giving Harry a look and helping himself to sandwiches 


	4. Chapter 4

Harry awoke late in the morning next day, full of food and content. The feast Mrs Weasley had prepared for the members of the Order, and obviously Harry, was magnificent. Harry couldn't seem to stop eating.

Leaving the room he and Ron shared and going down to the kitchen in hopes of having some breakfast, he stopped on the landing. Beneath him, he could see members of the Order whispering frantically as they came out of the kitchen. It was the end of a meeting. He had seen people come out of meetings here before, but this seemed different somehow. The people down in the hall seemed tenser, more worried, and even scared. It gave Harry the familiar sense of foreboding. He kept trying to listen to the whispered conversations below, but was unsuccessful in making out any specifics. As he glanced to his right, he saw a piece of flesh coloured string being lowered from the landing above him. He knew it was Fred and George's extendable ears. He kept silent hoping that they would pick up something he couldn't.

The piece of string got lower and lower as Harry stood there, watching the scene below. By the time the crowd dispersed Ron and Ginny had joined him on the landing. The piece of string was raised, and they all proceeded down to breakfast.

"What did you pick up on those things?" Ron asked as the twins joined them.

"They were talking about Hermione," said Fred.

"Apparently someone went to her house yesterday and found it deserted," George said.

"Anything else?" asked Ginny.

Fred smiled. "Some of them were musing about how Mad Eye still doesn't know you're here," he said to Harry.

"Yeah," added George, "some of them are starting a pool to see how long it lasts."

"We should bet on that," commented Fred vaguely as they entered the hall.

"Yeah," agreed George, "we could just lock Harry in a cupboard —"

"Under the stairs?" Harry asked, as they all entered the kitchen. Everyone laughed.

Mrs Weasley was just setting down a huge platter of waffles in the centre of the table as they took their seats. She looked much more stressed than the night before, and seemed close to tears.

"What's the matter, mum?" Ginny asked her as she sat down.

"Oh, nothing dear, nothing," she replied. She sounded as though she had a head cold.

The twins gave Ron a significant look. They knew that if they were to say anything, Mrs Weasley would know there were extendable ears still lurking around. Ron took the hint.

"Is it something about Hermione?"

Mrs Weasley looked over at her youngest son as her eyes filled up with tears.

"Yes," answered Mr Weasley, getting up to comfort his wife. "I think you should all know that a couple of members went to her home yesterday and found it empty."

They all pretended to look shocked at this statement. Mr Weasley gave them all a look that said, quite plainly, "I know you already know."

"We didn't find any evidence of a struggle, however," added Lupin, "so that makes us believe they left of their own free will, or at least didn't fight."

"And now that you don't need a guard, Harry," piped in Tonks, "we can have a guard at her house, in case they come back."

"So there's nothing else we can do?" asked Harry desperately.

"I'm afraid not, Harry," said Lupin. "All we can do now is to wait for something to happen."

"Like we usually do," said Fred furiously. "That's all we do around here is wait. Why can't we take action?"

"Firstly," said Lupin, "we don't have a course of action to take, and secondly," he continued over George's 'but —', "even if we did, we couldn't do it until we know all the facts. If the Malfoys really have threatened them, we can't do anything that would let them know we know. We would be putting the Grangers in danger, and that's the last thing we want to do."

A heavy silence followed this explanation. Harry looked at Ron and knew they felt the same thing. Worry. Harry was so worried that he lost his appetite.

"Where are you going?" asked Mr. Weasley, as Harry got up.

"I'm not hungry anymore," he said. Lupin looked at him.

"Don't try to contact her," he said, "any of you." Harry nodded.

"Yes, master," said George sarcastically, getting up in unison with his twin.

"And where are you two off to?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Work," they replied simply, and left the room after Harry.

Harry went up to his and Ron's room to find an occupant sitting in the usually empty frame on the wall. Harry recognized the clever looking wizard from the year before. His name was Phineas Nigellus, Sirius' great-great-grandfather, as well as the least popular headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry tried to ignore his gaze as he crossed to his four poster bed. Unable to stand Phineas staring at him in the silence, he spoke.

"What do you want?" he asked, rather rudely, not looking at him.

Phineas gave him a very calculated look before responding. "You miss him, don't you?" he asked.

Harry ignored him. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Sirius, what with Hermione weighing on his mind. "You didn't answer my question," he said, still not looking at the portrait.

"You didn't answer mine," replied Phineas. "But of course, you're too stubborn to —"

"Shut up," cut in Harry, his back still turned.

Phineas gave him a satisfied yet reproachful look. "Fine," he said, "I won't tell you what Dumbledore's message to you is."

Harry turned round to face the picture. "He has a message for me?" he asked.

"Yes," said Phineas, eyeing the boy-who-lived.

"What is it?" asked Harry growing impatient at Phineas' stalling.

"Do you really want to know?" he asked.

Harry froze. Remembering the conversation he and Dumbledore had had after Sirius' death, he did not know whether he wanted the message from his headmaster. "No," he said.

"Good," said Phineas with a rather twisted smile, "because there was no message." And with that, he left his portrait, smirking in a very satisfied way.

Disgusted with Phineas' taunting, Harry sat down on the bed, feeling defeated. He didn't want to talk to Dumbledore. He gave Harry the worst news any fifteen year-old could get after losing the closest thing to a parent he had. That stupid prophecy, he thought savagely, now lying on his back, looking up at the canopy above him. No one should have a burden like that on them. To be murdered or to be the murderer, he mused, that is the question. And against Voldemort, as well.

It was too much for Harry. He needed to get out of this house, even if just for a little while. As he descended the stairs, he thought he had better tell someone what his plans were. As he neared the kitchen, the sound of his name made him stop and eavesdrop at the door.

"He should know the truth," he heard Lupin's voice say angrily. "For God's sake, he deserves —"

"He's too young," interrupted Mrs. Weasley, sounding as, if not more, angry than Lupin.

"That's no excuse," said Lupin sharply. "He's nearly sixteen, and after all, it is his friend we —"

"He doesn't need another burden on him," Mrs. Weasley snapped. "He doesn't need to know what the Order is doing. We all agreed last year that he didn't need to know more than he needed."

"I know that Molly," said Lupin in a voice of forced calm, "but circumstances have changed. Dumbledore said he knows what the prophesy entails, and he's lasted this long without cracking, so why —?"

"I'll tell you why," said Mrs. Weasley in a very dangerous voice. "Because he's just like his father. He'll end up wanting to go in search of her, and we can't put him in any more danger than he's already in."

There was silence for a few moments. Then Lupin spoke. "Fine," he said, "we won't tell him, yet."

"Yet?"

"As soon as news comes, good or bad, we have to tell them. You can't expect teenagers to settle for the explanation we gave them for long. We'll just have to do as they are and wait."

Harry thought this would be a good time to proceed, so he entered the kitchen to find only Lupin and Mrs. Weasley sitting at the kitchen table, papers strewn about on the surface.

"Hello Harry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley with a smile. "What can I get you? Are you hungry?" she asked, rising out of her chair.

"Nothing, no," said Harry. "I was just wondering if I could go for a walk or something."

"Sure," Lupin said. "Who would you like to come with you as a watch?"

"You can," said Harry.

Lupin smiled. "Invisible or not?" he asked.

"Not," he answered. "It might look weird if I start talking to mid-air," he added with a smile.

As Lupin got up, Mrs. Weasley gave the werewolf a very significant look that said, quite plainly, 'Remember what I said.'

Harry led the way out the front door and into the bright sunshine, something none of them noticed in the house. They walked in silence, no particular destination, both of them mulling things over in their minds. After fifteen minutes of only their muffled footsteps on the pavement breaking the silence between them, Harry spoke.

"I heard you talking with Mrs. Weasley about Hermione," he said.

Lupin smiled. "I thought you would have," he replied. "Like father like son."

Harry looked at Lupin, who still had a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. "Am I really like him that much?" he asked.

"Yes," said Lupin immediately. "It's remarkable, really, how much alike you two are, even though..." He broke off.

Harry looked down at his feet and silently agreed. Even though he never knew his father, it was amazing that he had so many of his traits, not all of them physical. It must run in the family.

"So," Harry said, after another two blocks of silence, "what's going on with Hermione?"

"You heard what Molly said," Lupin reminded him, "I'm not supposed to tell you about it. And didn't you see the look she gave me?" He shuddered, pretending to be frightened. "She'd kill me if I said anything to you. She's a dangerous lady."

Harry looked at him, disbelievingly. "Oh, because what you did in school wasn't nearly as dangerous as crossing Mrs. Weasley," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well," said Lupin, giving Harry a very sly smile.

"Come off it," Harry laughed, "just tell me. I really want to know," he continued, coming to a stop in an abandoned park. He turned to face Lupin, who was walking towards the swing set.

"I'm not supposed to tell you," Lupin repeated, sinking into a swing and wrapping his arm around the chain. "Dumbledore would have my head."

"He also would have had your head in school for letting your friends become illegal animagi," Harry said, noticing a smile come over Lupin's face.

"Yeah, I suppose," he said, "but this is different."

"How?" asked Harry, "you can't say that someone's in danger, because someone was in danger when you went running around at school."

"I know, which is why I want to tell you," Lupin said, looking Harry in the eyes. "Do you know what Hermione's family background is like?" he asked. When Harry shook his head, Lupin continued. "Well, everyone thought that Hermione's mother was muggle-born, but that's not the case."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, but before Lupin could elaborate a voice spoke from behind them.

"Remus, I told you not to tell him anything!"

Lupin jumped. "Molly!" he said outraged, as he stood up. "What are you doing, following me around?"

"Well," she said, looking from Harry to Lupin, "apparently Harry's not the only one who should be under watch."

"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" asked Lupin, an uncharacteristic ugly look spreading across his face, making him look like the monster he became every full moon.

"Exactly what you think it means," Mrs. Weasley said, beginning to resemble the sabre-toothed tiger Fred and George would sometimes compare her to.

"What, that you don't trust me?"

"Not only me," she said, an evil smile, not unlike the one the twins sometimes wore, replacing her tiger-like look.

"Oh," said Lupin, "I get it, Dumbledore doesn't trust me either." As Mrs. Weasley nodded, Lupin's temper flared. "Fine!" he shouted, causing the birds in the nearest trees take flight. He turned around from Mrs. Weasley and faced Harry. "Whose side are you on?"

"Yours," answered Harry immediately, taken aback by Lupin's sudden outburst.

"There you go," said Lupin, turning back to Mrs. Weasley. "At least somebody's going to be on my side."

"And since when are we all taking sides?" asked Mrs. Weasley, losing her patience. "Don't you think you're being a bit childish about this, Remus?"

"No," said Lupin, turning away.

Mrs. Weasley looked extremely miffed.

"Can we just go back, then?" Harry asked, seeing as how he wouldn't be able to get any information about Hermione now that Mrs. Weasley was with them.

"Yes," said Lupin, "we better, or they'll have the whole Order out here making sure I'm following the rules." He threw a dirty look at Mrs. Weasley over his shoulder as he left the park. 


	5. Chapter 5

An hour or so after Harry had arrived back in his and Ron's room, Mrs. Weasley came up and pulled them aside.

"Come down to the kitchen, we have something to tell you," she said simply, and led them to the kitchen.

As they entered, they caught sight of Dumbledore sitting at the head of the table. He nodded as they entered, and the boys nodded back in respect. Harry looked impatiently at the headmaster.

"Hermione is safe right now and will be brought here in a few days," he said, however his blue eyes refused to twinkle. He stared down at his hands.

"Hermione is safe," Harry repeated, relieved.

"But, we have figured that ... well you might want to sit for this," Dumbledore said. As they sat, a small glowing ball peaked their interest.

"Is that a prophesy?" asked Ron curiously.

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, Mr. Weasley, it is a prophesy."

"It's Hermione's, isn't it?" Harry asked.

He sighed again. "Yes, Mr. Potter, it is concerning Miss Granger."

Then there was silence, until Mrs. Weasley snapped, "Well, you had better tell them, Albus."

Harry looked from Dumbledore's exhausted figure sitting at the table, to Mrs. Weasley standing bold as brass in front of the small crowd. He then noticed Lupin, who shook his head at the floor.

Dumbledore sighed, resigned to the task he was to follow through. Just as he took a breath before explaining everything, Ginny entered the room. Before the headmaster had time to say anything, the youngest Weasley interrupted.

"So the prophesy is about Hermione?" she asked.

"Not directly," Dumbledore began, examining his interlaced fingers set upon the scrubbed wooden table.

"Then who is it about?" asked Ron, clearly becoming irritated with the whole ordeal.

"Me," said a voice behind them.

"Krum!"

"Yes," the Bulgarian said, "my parents vere murdered by a pair ov Death Eaters last night, and ven the Order came, they said I could go vith them to a save place." He paused and looked down at his feet. "They told me Hermy-own-ninny vas missing, and I vas relieved to hear that she vas save."

"But she still needs saving," Dumbledore added, his eyes cast down.

The room went quiet at this statement. All eyes were on Dumbledore. He seemed to notice the attention, and when he glanced up, he merely nodded towards a letter lying open before him. Harry picked it up instantly, and as his eyes traveled down the page, his face fell.

"You won't tell us what they want, will you?" he asked Dumbledore doubtingly.

Dumbledore's piercing blue eyes met Harry's vibrant green ones. He shook his head.

"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked impatiently.

Harry shoved the letter towards the red head, and she read it aloud.

"'We have her. She and the boy are still alive, unlike their parents. Give us what we want and you can have her back, safe and sound.'" She looked up. "Hermione has a brother?"

"Yes, I sent his letter yesterday," Professor McGonagall said, stepping out of the crowd.

"Her parents are dead?" asked Ron softly.

"Yes," answered Lupin, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. "As you can imagine, it was the Death Eaters' doing."

"Lucius Malfoy, to be exact," added Mad Eye Moody.

"So how are we going to save her?" Harry asked.

"That's where it gets complicated," said Mr. Weasley, pulling out the chair across from Harry, and motioning to the others to do the same. "All the Death Eaters will be waiting for any of us — except one person."

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Are you stupid?" Ginny asked her brother. "Who's the one person here not in or attached to the Order?"

"Me," said Krum, getting up from his place beside Ron, and walking towards Dumbledore.

"And it has everything to do with that prophesy," said Lupin.

"Really?" Ron asked sceptically.

"It's all in there," the headmaster said simply.

All eyes were on the small prophesy.

"How are we going to find out the details of it?" asked Ginny.

"Yeah, how do you open it?" Ron inquired.

Viktor Krum stepped forward. "Like this," he replied, and he brought his fist down on the small golden orb.

At once, a ghostly figure arose from the shattered glass, one that slightly resembled Krum himself, and spoke.

"Mein Enkel speichert das Leben seiner zutreffenden Liebe auf demzehnten Mond seines zwanzigsten Jahres."

The figure disappeared into thin air, leaving all of them confused, except Krum. He was sitting with his head in his hands, pondering the message.

"What did that mean?" Ron asked.

"My grandson will save his true love's life on the tenth moon of his twentieth year," Krum recited from behind his hands.

"Sounds deep to me," said an unfamiliar voice from behind them.

The three teenagers spun around as Krum's head jerked up off his hands.

The pretty girl behind them smiled at the shocked faces.

"I think you should explain, Oliver," the brown haired girl said to the burly ex-Quidditch captain standing beside her.

He smiled as Harry and Ron beamed at him.

"Welcome back!" the two teens said in unison.

"Thanks," Oliver said, smiling at the two best players on the Gryffindor team.

Ginny was looking quite put out. "So is somebody going to explain what is going on here?" she asked.

"Yes," Oliver promptly replied, turning back to the group at large. "Let me introduce you all to Anastasia Hughes."

"But you can call me Sasha," the green eyed girl added.

"Yes," Oliver continued, "an ex-Slytherin, newly adopted into the Order."

"I'm a spy," she clarified.

"But don't you have to be of age to work for the Order?" Ginny asked.

At this inquiry, Sasha gave a little laugh. "I am of age, don't worry."

"She's older than me," Oliver whispered to Ginny.

"Oh," she said, looking at the new member as though seeing her in a different light. "So who are you spying on?"

"That's none of your business," Mrs. Weasley snapped, and Ginny groaned. "It's for the Order, and only the Order, to know."

"But since when are you in the Order?" Harry asked Oliver.

"Since I told them I had the right connections," the athletic 20-year-old replied, with a mysterious smile.

"Then how are you in the Order?" Ron asked Sasha.

She linked arms with Oliver as she replied, "I have a connection."

He smiled down at her, and Harry knew exactly what was going on with them. Ginny and Ron, however, looked disgusted. They mentally shook themselves, however, when Krum spoke up.

"Vat about this prophesy?" he asked, motioning towards the shattered glass lying upon the table.

"Yeah," Ron said. "What exactly did it mean? Who was that?"

"My grandmother," Krum replied. "She vas a remarkable seer."

"And what did it mean?" Ginny repeated.

"In general," Lupin explained, "it meant that ten months after Mr. Krum's twentieth birthday, he will save his true love's life."

"But Dumbledore said that it had something to do with Hermione," Ron said, "and there was no mention of her in there."

"My true love," Krum said, looking at Ron with an expression of superiority on his face.

Ron glared back at the quidditch star. "You honestly think that Hermione's your true love?" he asked incredulously.

"If the prophesy says so, then yes," replied Krum, not moving his gaze from Ron's.

"And what if she's not?" Ron asked. "What if the prophesy is talking about someone completely different?"

Krum was silent for a moment, but then replied simply, "We shall see."

Ron was disgusted. He got up from the table, and determinedly set off for his room. 


	6. Chapter 6

After Ron left, nothing else was said about the prophesy. Krum retired to his room: the floor above Harry and Ron's, and a couple of doors down. It turned out that Sasha and Oliver would be staying at headquarters, to better serve the order. They took the room next to Harry and Ron's. Unfortunately, Ron was quite upset, and the new members could clearly hear what was being said in the next room.

"Who does he think he is?" an irritated Ron, pacing the room, asked Harry. "He honestly thinks that Hermione is his true love?"

"You don't?" Harry asked him.

Ron stopped pacing and looked at his best friend. For a moment he seemed at a loss for words. Harry shrugged it off.

"So do you believe the prophesy?" he asked Ron.

"How can you believe something like that? What if it's a fake?" Ron asked angrily.

Harry just looked at him. Ron understood immediately what was on his mind.

"I'm sorry," the red head mumbled, "I didn't mean —"

"It's okay," Harry interrupted, "forget about it."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked.

"Positive," Harry replied with a smile, although he wasn't sure he was okay. Ron only knew that Harry knew about a prophesy between the young Potter and Voldemort, but not what it contained. And Harry was not keen on disclosing that information to one of his closest friends. He knew how Ron would react.

Ron sat on his own bed, tired of pacing the room, staring out of the single window, lost in thought. He looked like he wanted to duel someone. Or kiss someone. Eager to know what was on his mind, Harry asked a very touchy question.

"You're jealous of him, aren't you?"

Ron whipped around, with a look on his face as though he was caught in the middle. "What are you talking about?" he tried to dismiss, but Harry could see right through him.

"You're jealous of Krum! Because you know that Dumbledore is going to make him save Hermione," Harry began. Ron huffed, as though what Harry was saying was ridiculous, but didn't stop him, so Harry went on. "But you know you want to save her and act the hero!" he exclaimed, his voice rising, and causing Ron to jump off the bed, red in the face.

But before Ron could say anything more, the door banged open and in came the twins.

"Ron, a hero?" George said.

"That can't be," Fred added.

"Unless it has something to do with that girl —"

"Oh yeah! The girl! It must have something to do with her," Fred said, giving Ron a sly look.

"You two are crazy," Ron said, flustered at having his brothers pry and poke at his personal life.

"Are we?" they asked in unison.

Ron looked at Harry for support, but was unable to have any, because Harry was laughing so hard on his bed, that even standing up would be near impossible. Now irritated even more, Ron pushed past his brothers, who were now themselves dissolved in laughter, and out into the hall. He slammed the door behind them and sought some peace and quiet in the drawing room.

In a matter of minutes the laughing subsided, and as Harry sat up, breathless, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he gasped, and in walked Oliver, hand-in-hand with Sasha.

"Nice place you got here," she commented, looking around the barren room.

"Yeah," Oliver agreed, "its way roomier than ours is."

By this time, the twins had regained their composure and were eyeing up Miss Hughes. Oliver gave the two pranksters a warning look and said, "Don't even think about it."

Pretending to be hurt, the twins frowned. Sasha laughed.

"You haven't seen the half of it," Harry told her.

"Speaking of halves," Oliver said, "where did your other one go?"

"Who? Ron?" Harry asked, and Oliver nodded. "I don't know, he just left."

"No wonder," Sasha said, "you were probably making him feel horrible."

"He really does have a crush on her, doesn't he?" Oliver asked.

"He's had a crush on her for how long now?" Fred asked sarcastically.

"I'd say four, maybe five years," George replied thoughtfully.

"Or longer," Harry mumbled, mainly to himself.

"What?" Sasha asked him.

"Oh," Harry said, surprised that anyone heard him. "I think he's liked her since the first day."

"But why would he pretend all this time?" George asked.

"Because I didn't want you guys teasing me about it," Ron replied from the door.

"So you admit you like her?" Fred asked, a mischievous smile coming to his lips.

Ron frowned. "Honestly, I don't think 'like' is the right word."

All the boys went quiet as Sasha exclaimed, "Aww! That's so sweet!"

"What's sweet?" asked Ginny, who entered the room.

"How Ron feels about Hermione," Sasha replied.

"He's felt that way forever," Ginny said, just as sarcastically as her twin brothers.

"Shut up, Ginny," Ron warned, frowning at her.

Ginny shrugged and turned to leave. Just as she stepped out into the hall, she turned round. "Mum says dinner's ready."

The twins, hungry after a hard day at work, jumped up and followed their little sister. Oliver and Harry followed suit, leaving Ron and Sasha alone.

"Are you okay, kid?" she asked, eyeing him sympathetically.

"Yeah," he said, not looking up at her.

"Want my advice?" she asked.

Finally he looked up at her. "Sure."

"Don't be too jealous of Viktor."

He frowned. "Why not?"

She smiled as she answered. "One, it's not attractive, and two," she leaned closer to him, "he'll fight back."

As Ron sat there she winked and turned around. Just as she got to the door, he followed her out and down to the kitchen.

Dinner was an uneventful affair that night, and by the next week dinner was rarely a group activity. With the twins working and the Order members bustling around doing whatever it was they did, the Hogwarts students spent the lazy summer days in the library researching, or simply sitting around, talking about everything and nothing. It was very lonely without Hermione, and the boys were soon tired of Ginny's company, and Ginny, theirs.

On a rainy Thursday, three days before Harry's birthday, Mrs. Weasley entered the drawing room where Ron, Harry, Ginny, Viktor, and Oliver were sitting around, enjoying the warmth of the house. As she entered, Viktor and Ginny looked up from their books. She gave them a warm smile, which was returned.

"Lunch is ready in the kitchen," she announced.

Ron looked up from his chess game with Oliver. "Can't we eat up here, like yesterday?" he asked.

Mrs. Weasley's kind smile grew. "We have guests today, and I'd like you all to eat with us."

As Mrs. Weasley left the room, Ron sighed. "We've never had to eat with other new members," he said, "what's so different about today?"

"Maybe it isn't a new member," Ginny replied, placing her book back on the shelf of the tall, mahogany bookshelves.

Ron looked at her as though she was losing her mind. She shrugged, and led the boys down to the kitchen. As they neared the wide doors, they heard a familiar woman's voice.

"Oh, thank you Molly," it said, "you are truly an angel."

"Oh, no," Mrs. Weasley replied, "I'm just happy to help."

The group of young adults entered the kitchen, receiving a shock to see a stout classmate of theirs sitting at the table. He was beside an elderly woman who was wearing the infamous vulture-topped hat.

"Neville!" the three Hogwarts students exclaimed, as the stout boy's face shone with happiness.

"Hi, guys," he replied cheerfully, as the three classmates sat down on his other side.

"How have you been, mate?" Harry asked.

Suddenly Neville's face fell. "Not so good," he replied, now looking at his shoes.

"His family was murdered by Death Eaters," Mrs. Weasley explained quietly, as she set down a tray of tea in front of their guests.

"Oh, Neville," Ginny said, putting her hand on his, which were clasped upon the table, "I'm so sorry."

Neville sniffed. "It's not your fault," he said, looking up at her and the others, "if anything, its mine."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, the sympathetic look on his face being replaced with a look of confusion.

"Well, if I had only been there, I could have fought them off," he said, this time locking eyes with Harry. "You had taught me enough that I could handle anything, Harry."

Harry sighed. "Don't blame yourself, it wasn't your fault."

"That's some advice you could use yourself," said a voice from the doorway. "It wasn't your fault that Sirius died. No matter how much you try to blame it on yourself," Sasha said, coming to sit across from the green-eyed teenager.

Harry sighed. He knew she was right, that all of them were right. He wanted to blame Sirius' death on someone, and that someone just so happened to be himself.

Mrs. Weasley interrupted them, shooing the underage wizards out of the kitchen. Harry and Ron took Neville up to their room, where he would be staying with them. In a matter of minutes, they had filled him in on what exactly the Order was. Neville seemed to understand, and so the boys spoke of other things. The subject of murders remained untouched, and if any mention of murders was touched, it was quickly stifled.

So the days passed, and on Harry and Neville's birthday (they decided to celebrate at the same time), a feast was prepared in the gloomy kitchen of Number Twelve. Many witches and wizards from the Order came to share in the celebrations, and it seemed as if the night would never end. As the night dwindled into the wee hours of the morning, Lupin pulled Harry aside.

"I don't really want to spoil your evening," he began, "but tomorrow we have some business to discuss."

"What kind of business?" Harry asked.

Lupin was quiet for a moment, as though pondering whether to tell Harry the whole truth.

As loud hoots of laughter erupted behind them, Lupin replied quietly, "Just be emotionally prepared for tomorrow. And get some sleep."

Harry gave him a confused look, but before either of them could elaborate, they heard a shout from Ron.

"C'mon Harry! It is your party after all!"

With one last glance and smile at Lupin, Harry returned to the festivities. 


	7. Chapter 7

After a short night of sleep, Harry awoke to find that both Ron and Neville had gone down to breakfast. Harry, forgetting what Lupin had advised him the previous night, dressed and proceeded downstairs without hesitation, and in a particularly good mood. With a smile on his face, he entered the kitchen to find over half of the Order sitting at the table. He caught sight of Lupin sitting at the head of the table, looking very sombre and holding a sealed piece of parchment in his hands. Harry felt the smile slide off his face and his heart plummet into his stomach. He knew exactly what was coming.

Lupin looked up, and Harry saw that his eyes seemed misty. "Come over here, Harry," he said, pulling out the chair next to him.

Harry obeyed, and as he sat down next to the last of his father's best friends, felt a lump rise in his throat. Lupin laid the piece of parchment down on the table, and the words written on it confirmed Harry's belief of what they were all about to face.

It was not until Bill and Fleur arrived, hand-in-hand five minutes later, that Lupin rose from his seat. After lightly clearing his throat, he spoke to the room at large.

"Well," he began, looking around at all the faces, dimly lit in the gloomy kitchen. "It's time to read Sirius', uh, Last Will and Testament," he said, his voice shaking. His hand shook as well as he picked up the will. Lupin nervously cleared his throat again. "On to it," he said, more to himself.

The members of the audience nervously shifted in their seats.

Harry only had to sit there, listening to everything Sirius had left for him, for half an hour. However, he did smile when he heard how much Sirius left for the Weasleys. Lupin, however, refused to read out what Sirius had left for him. Harry wondered if he would ever find out.

---

The weeks passed. Bill and Fleur spent more and more time in Grimmauld Place, as did Sasha and Oliver. And still there was no word about Hermione. However, there was little room to pry and poke into the affair, as school was fast approaching, and Mrs. Weasley was keeping them busy with cleaning. The trip to Diagon Alley was finally planned a week before school began. After arriving in the Leaky Cauldron by fire on the twenty-second of August, they proceeded to Gringotts in the pouring raining. After visiting the very full vaults of the Weasleys, Harry, and Neville, they went their separate ways. While Mrs. Weasley and Ginny went to buy new robes, the boys went to visit Fred and George in their shop.

Upon entering the tiny place, they could see just how successful the twins were. There was hardly any room to walk between aisles; it was so crowded with people. And the harder Harry looked, the more Hogwarts students he recognized. Finally, the trio made it to the counter. As they approached, Fred was loudly explaining the infamous canary creams to a group of eager looking students. Just as he was about to demonstrate the effects, he caught sight of his younger brother — and Neville. He smiled mischievously at the plump boy, before turning back to his customers.

"And now," Fred announced, "let me introduce to you all the very first victim of this delicious prank: Neville Longbottom!"

The redhead pulled Neville up onto the counter with him. Applause filled the tiny store, and Neville turned just as scarlet as his remembrall in their first year.

Smiling broadly, the inventor turned to Neville. "If you would please demonstrate," he said to the teenager.

Without any hesitation, Neville took the cream treat from Fred, and popped it into his mouth. Silence fell over the crowd as they watched and waited. Within seconds and with a loud squawking noise, a yellow-feathered Neville stood beside a howling Fred. The crowd burst in applause and laughter. Ever so graciously, Neville took a bow, and sent the crowd into hoots of hysterical laughter. He hopped off the counter and rejoined his beaming friends. Never, in all the time they had known him, shared a dormitory with him, ate breakfast with him, had they seen such daring behaviour from their shy friend.

By this time, George had made his way to their sides. Smiling he said, "I can't believe you just did that, Neville."

"Neither can I," Neville replied, smiling sheepishly.

"What made you do it?" Ron asked, absentmindedly taking a crisp from his older brother.

"Well, after the rest of my family, you know, were taken, I've decided that you should live every day to the fullest," he explained, refusing George's crisps with a smile.

"That's a good philosophy," Harry said, shaking his head at George, who was now offering Harry a crisp. "How is business going?" he asked.

"Booming," George said with a smile. "Even with the discounts, we just might be bringing in more galleons than —"

Ron, who, at that moment, sprouted great, purple carrots from both ears, interrupted him. All those in close proximity howled with laughter, as Ron turned a brilliant shade of magenta.

"Carrot Crisps!" George shouted over all the laughter. "Coming soon!"

With that, the three friends left the joke shop. Neville and Ron left to go and buy their school books. Harry, who needed a moment to himself, left to get some ice cream from Florean Fortescue.

As he entered the parlour, he could not help but notice a pretty girl sitting alone in a corner booth. As he turned around after ordering his pineapple heaven cone, the golden-eyed girl looked up and caught his eye. She smiled; he returned it. Only then did he notice just how packed the tiny shop was. As it was raining outside, it only made sense that the customers eat their sweet treats in a dry place. Quickly glancing around, Harry noticed that there was no table left, and with a split-second's hesitation, he made his way over to the girl in the corner booth. As he approached from behind, he saw her ears turn red, when she caught sight of him in her compact's mirror. He touched her shoulder, and as she turned around, he took in the real beauty of her.

"Hi," he said, warmly. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

She blushed. "Oh, no," she said, "go ahead. I was just leaving."

"Why?" he asked, afraid he might not see her again, a funny feeling fluttering around in his stomach.

"Oh, you probably want to sit alone," she said.

"I'd rather sit with you," he said quietly.

She looked up at him out of those unique golden eyes. When they met Harry's brilliant green ones she smiled; and so did he. He took the seat across from her, and before either of them knew it, they were friends. They spoke for half an hour, and in that time he knew, and liked, so much about her that by the time the rain let up, he forgot that the loss of Sirius hurt. And so, as the sun shone through the window, they bid each other goodbye, and promised to look for one another on the Hogwarts Express.

---

For the next few days, Harry could not seem to stop thinking about the girl in Diagon Alley. He still had not told Ron or Neville about her, and did not plan to until they were on the train to Hogwarts. Nevertheless, that day came too soon for Harry's liking. Charlie picked them up from Grimmauld Place at 9 o'clock that morning.

"Why are we leaving so early?" Ginny sleepily asked her older brother.

"Because I want you all to meet someone before I — you know — before I, um, propose to her."

"What?" Ron asked.

Charlie blushed. "I've been seeing her steady for three years now —"

"And you never told us?" Ginny asked, shocked.

"We're your family!" Ron exclaimed.

Charlie smiled. "I know," he said, "but mum and dad haven't met her yet, and she wants to meet you lot first."

"Does Bill know about her?" Ron asked.

"Yes," replied Charlie, and as Ginny gasped, betrayed, he added, "but only because he was the one who set us up together."

"But Fred and George don't know about her?" Ron asked.

"Of course not," Charlie laughed, turning down a side street lined with huge oak trees, "they would be the first ones to tell mum and dad."

He pulled into the driveway of a simple bungalow. As he turned off the car, he twisted around in his seat.

"Her name is Kristina, and like I said, we've been dating for three years. What you should know before you meet her is, um, well —"

"Just spit it out already," Ginny said, exasperated.

"She's only nineteen," he said quietly.

"What?" Ron yelled.

Charlie did not look amused. "Well, we love each other, and like it or not, I'm going to propose. We've decided that age doesn't matter."

And with that, he got out of the car. Just before he was going to shut the door, he looked questioningly at Harry and Neville. "Well, come on you guys," he said to them.

"But we're not fam—"

Charlie smiled. "Mum says you might as well be, so come on!"

They all proceeded up the walk to meet the bride to be.

---

By the time the whole ensemble of witches and wizards arrived at King's Cross, they only had five minutes to board the train. Once Charlie and Kristina had said their goodbyes, Ginny pulled her aside.

"Are you in love with him?" the fifteen year old asked Kristina.

The nineteen year old blushed. "Yes, I am," she replied, and beamed when Ginny smiled.

"So do you promise me you'll say yes?"

Kristina looked confused. "Yes to what?" she asked.

"Just promise me," Ginny said, as the whistle blew, signally that the train was about to leave.

"Okay, but —"

"C'mon Gin! We're leaving!" the boys called to her.

"Good," Ginny said, "and don't tell Charlie what I asked, okay?"

Comprehension dawned on Kristina's face. "Of course I won't," she said, and hugged her future sister-in-law goodbye, as she ran to catch the train.

"What was that about?" Charlie asked his curvy girlfriend as the waved to the teenagers on the train.

"Oh, just some girl talk," she replied, smiling. "Nothing you would be interested in."

Charlie laughed. "You're probably right. Now let's get going, it's time for you to meet my parents."

"And the rest of the Order," she smiled as they walked out of the station together, hand-in-hand. 


End file.
